Promise Me
by adama-roslinlove
Summary: Laura and Lee have a talk in sickbay about her and Bill's relationship. Lee discovers something from their conversation which leads to a talk with his father. Set in late Season 4.5 after Laura collapses and now has to stay in sickbay.
1. Chapter 1 Conversations In Sickbay

**Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are the property of Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, Sci-fi Network and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Lee walks into the President's curtained off area with his hands clasped in front of him and clears his throat. He finds Laura laying uncomfortably in her bed reading a book, his father's book. He doesn't like seeing Laura like this, so helpless and sick. He is used to seeing her as someone that is in control of everything. Once he gets her attention he hesitantly says, "My father said you wanted to see me."

Laura looks into his eyes and sees that he is terrified and nervous; also that he doesn't come anywhere near her is a clue. His arms are in front of him, covering his body, which is a sign that he is trying to protect himself, probably from emotions she guesses. She coughs, puts the book on the table next to the bed, and puts her glasses on top of the book. She weakly says, "Lee, I know you're scared. You don't have to try and hide it, maybe from your father, but not from me."

He is about to deny it, but then realizes that he can't. She sees the look of defeat in his eyes. "How did you know?"

She clears her throat and says, "I was once a teacher, no matter how long ago. I learned how to read people pretty well. I guess that kind of thing sticks with you."

Lee tentatively walks over to Laura's bed and sits down on the edge.

"So, how is the presidency treating you?" Laura asks in a hoarse voice.

"Pretty well with all things considered. Except no one really wants a different president. They just want you back. You are the only president they will ever see as the true leader of the people. They miss you," Lee says, as his voice grows quieter and quieter, ending in a whisper.

Laura noticeably swallows and says, "Thank you for telling me that, Lee. There is actually one main reason why I wanted to see you."

"Yes?" Lee asks, curious as to why Laura is being so hesitant with her words, it's so unlike her.

"I need you to promise something for me. Promise me that when I die, you will do everything you can to make sure your father doesn't die with me. Promise me," Laura says with a pleading look on her face.

Lee's face falls as he looks down at his hands and tries to figure out what to say. "I'm sorry, but," Lee starts to say, "But, I can't promise you that."

Laura shakes her head trying to stop the tears from coming because she feels them gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"This is kind of awkward for me to say but, my father fell in love with you. I mean, really truly fell in love with you. I never saw him act with my mom the way he acts with you, never. I don't think anyone could save him now except you. You mean everything to him and you might have been the only thing holding him together these past few years. If you die, he won't have anything left to live for, so..."

Tears are running down Laura's face and Lee clasps her hand with his. "I knew this was what you were probably going to say, but I was still hoping," Laura weakly says.

"I know this isn't my place to say this, but can you fight for a little bit longer. So we can get to Earth with both of you still with us. So my father can have some time with you without responsibilities hanging over both of your shoulders. Can you please do this for the rest of the fleet, and for me, and for most importantly, him?"

"I'll try. I will use every ounce of strength that I have to fight. I just don't think I have enough."

"Please. If not for the fleet, than at least do it for my father. He believes in you and he loves you, so much. He just wants to live a life with you, and only you. I wish you two had met before this had all happened. Yes, I hated my father back then, but now all I want is for him to be happy, and you make him happy. He was never this happy when he was with my mom."

"He doesn't seem happy with me. We always fight and he always drinks. At least, we always fought before I collapsed; now we don't. But, I'm sure he still drinks, maybe even more now. I'm afraid that he will never say that he loves me. I told him once, but he never told me back. And now that he is always drunk and mad at me, I don't think he ever will say it."

"Laura, let me tell you something. He isn't drinking because he's mad at you; he's drinking because he is terrified. He drank when he left my mom even though he knew it was the right thing to do, he drank when Zak died, he drank when he realized that he needed to retire, and he drank after he left you on New Caprica. He drinks because he is terrified because he doesn't know what is going to happen. He loves you, Laura. I'm sorry he hasn't said it, but I guess I'll have to go talk some sense into him."

That earns him a weak chuckle and a faint smile. "Thank you, Lee. I really appreciate it. Whatever mistakes you're father made in his life… He raised a good man. Don't ever forget that."

"Thanks," Lee says with a shy smile. He stands up from Laura's bed and says, "I'm going to go have a conversation with my father. I'll come back later," and he walks out.

**Reviews are truely appreciated so please review! I am planning on writing a couple more chapters to this story. Let me know if you like it.**


	2. Chapter 2 Arguing With Dad

**Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are the property of Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, Sci-fi Network and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended.**

As Lee is walking towards his father's quarters, he is getting angrier and angrier with every step. 'How could he do this?' Lee thinks, 'My father is not this person.' Lee arrives at his father's quarters and knocks on the hatch and waits. After five minutes, there is still no answer. 'I'm not letting him get away with this,' Lee thinks. He turns to his father's guards and tells them to open the hatch, they don't move. "I'm his son, open the frakkin hatch," Lee practically growls.

The guards give each other a look and then silently obey. One turns toward the hatch and unlocks it. Lee walks in and his eyes have to adjust to the low lighting, as he hears the hatch close with a thunk behind him. He barely makes out a light in his dad's more private area. He quietly walks into his dad's room and sees him sitting at his desk with a bottle of liquor in his hand.

Bill looks up and notices his son walking into the room and says, "How did you get in here? I told them not to let anyone in."

"Dad, we need to talk." Lee slowly walks closer to him and yanks the bottle out of his father's hand. He strolls over to the head and dumps the contents of the bottle down the sink. Once the liquor is all gone, he throws the bottle in the trash. He walks back over to his father and sits down in front of him.

"Dad, I know this is hard on you, but you need to stop drinking. It's going to kill you before the cancer kills Laura. She cares about you Dad and she needs you right now. She needs the real you, not the drunk you that I'm staring at now. She needs the man who loves her, even if he never tells her that."

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me Dad. I can't believe you've never told her. That's sad. Did you know that she thinks you hate her? She is afraid that she will never get to hear that you love her because all you do is drink. How could you do that to her, Dad? I thought she made you happy," Lee says, anger rising in his voice.

This sobers Bill right up and he says, "She does make me happy. I'm just so scared that I am going to lose her and I can't do anything about it. I don't want to watch her die."

"Then why don't you show her, Dad. Show her that you make her happy; tell her that you love her. Act upon the things that you have control over, don't worry about the things you don't have control over. Do you really want her to think that you hate her?"

"No, I don't. I would never hate her, I love her."

"Why can you tell me this, but you can't tell her? It's not like she's going to be mad at you for telling her, she wants you to tell her, she needs you to tell her. She wants to know that someone loves her as Laura. She wants to know that the man she fell in love with also fell in love with her."

"You're right, Lee. I should go talk to her," Bill says, with his head down because he is disappointed in himself.

"Yes, you should. But first, you should go get cleaned up."

Lee walks out of his dad's quarters with a smile on his face. For once, he did something good with his anger.

Bill staggers into the head and pulls his uniform off. He lazily turns the shower on and climbs into it. The pounding of water on his head helps to relieve some of the pressure that the drinking caused. The shower washes away the scent of alcohol on his body and replaces it with the scent of Bill's musky soap that Laura loves so dearly. He steps out of the shower feeling as refreshed as he can from his old age and tiredness. He shaves off his stubble and clothes himself in a clean uniform. He brushes his teeth which washes away the last scent of alcohol on him, though it is not enough. He looks at himself in the mirror and all he sees is a tired, old, defeated man looking back at him. He has no idea how a woman as wonderful as Laura fell in love with him.

He walks out of the head and pours himself a glass of water because his throat feels like sandpaper from all the alcohol. He guzzles the glass of water and puts the glass down on his desk. He slips his shoes on and walks behind his desk. He regards his wedding ring with a thoughtful look and then shakes his head. Slowly, as if removing part of his soul, he takes his wedding ring off and lays it on top of the wedding picture in the desk drawer.

"Goodbye, Carolanne," he says to the silent room, as he closes the drawer.

He then steps out of his quarters and makes his way to Laura in sickbay.

**Reviews are loved! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3 Professing Their Love

**Disclaimer: Battlestar Galactica and its characters are the property of Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, Sci-fi Network and NBC. No copyright infringement is intended.**

He steps into sickbay and he can feel the heaviness in the room weigh down on him. He never liked going into this part of the ship, but now it is different because there is someone here that he loves. He can't let go of her, no matter how much he drinks. He can't stand to let her go, but he also can't stand to leave her alone. This is why when he walks into sickbay he doesn't hesitate to go straight to her.

As Bill is walking into Laura's area, Cottle gruffly strolls out of his office with a cigarette in hand and notices Bill shutting the curtain behind him. Cottle goes to all of his nurses and quietly tells them to give Bill and Laura privacy. He then walks around to check on his patients.

Bill walks to Laura's bedside and sits down in his usual chair. He looks at her and notices that her sleeping form is so much more peaceful and relaxed. She looks as if her pain has just disappeared. He tenderly takes her hand in between his and kisses it, making sure that he doesn't wake her. He leans his head down on the bed and cries for the love of his life.

Laura wakes when she feels wetness creep up on her hand. She audibly swallows and tries to clear her throat because she feels as if someone is there. Something heavy is weighing down on her hand and the bed feels as if it is a bit dipped toward the edge. She struggles to open her eyes, but when she does, she is greeted by the sight of Bill sleeping on her hand. At that moment, a nurse walks in but then realizes whose space she accidentally entered. 'Oh, shit,' the nurse thinks. Luckily, the Admiral is sleeping so she is not interrupting anything. She quickly tells Laura how long the Admiral has been here and then leaves as if Laura is about to toss her out the airlock.

Laura calls out Bill's name in her hoarse voice, but he doesn't answer. She uses the hand that is not being used as a pillow and starts to gently caress the side of Bill's rough face.

Bill immediately wakens to the soft touch that can only be Laura and he lifts his head up to see her smiling faintly at him. She softly chuckles and when Bill raises his eyebrow and gives her an inquisitive look, she weakly says while trying to breathe normally, "You were sleeping on my hand and now you have a line from the tube on your face."

Bill lets go of her hand with only one of his hands and rubs his face. "Yeah, I guess I do," he says groggily, "How long have I been out?"

"A nurse accidentally came in a few minutes ago and told me that you have been here for about three hours. And then she apologized and quickly ran out," she pauses and asks, trying to keep her voice as steady as she can, but she ultimately fails because she is dying, "You've been here for three hours, Bill?"

"I guess so," Bill says, and rubs his face again, "When I started falling asleep I probably should have gone back to our quarters, but I just couldn't leave you. Plus, I need to talk to you."

"Oh?" Laura asks, encouraging him to go on.

"Lee came to our quarters earlier and we had an interesting conversation," Bill pauses as if to gather courage and then he says, "Do you really think that I hate you?"

Laura looks down at her lap and says, "No. Yes. I don't know because you are always drinking and that tells me that you just want to forget everything about your life, including me."

"Laura, I don't hate you and I would never want to forget about you. I'm sorry that I made you think that and I'm sorry that I haven't been here for you lately when you have needed me the most. But, I promise that I'll be here now."

Bill raises their joined hands to his lips and gives them a kiss. Laura looks at their hands and gives Bill a curious look. 'She must have noticed that I took my ring off,' Bill thinks.

"Your ring? It's gone?" Laura asks.

Bill takes a deep breath and says, "Yes, it is. I took it off."

"Why?"

"Because I felt that it was time. My mistakes in my last marriage brought me to this and I don't regret it anymore. I love a different woman now. I love the right woman now. You are who I was meant to be with from the very beginning."

Tears well up in Laura's eyes and she tries to hold them in, but it doesn't work. As the tears fall, Bill uses his fingertips to wipe the tears off of her cheeks.

"I love you, Laura. I'm sorry it took so long to say it, but I love you. And you do make me happy."

"I love you too, Bill," Laura says in a croaky voice.

Bill gets up from the chair and lies down on the bed beside Laura. He puts his arm around Laura and turns his head. His lips touch the corner of hers in a light kiss, but then Laura turns her head slightly more toward him and their lips come together in a tender, meaningful kiss.

"I've waited so long for this, Bill."

"Me too, Laura. But we have each other now. And I'm never letting you go."

"Thank you."

Bill tightens his arms around Laura and they lay there together for what seems like eternity.

**This is the final chapter so I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are love and appreciated. **


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